The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Australia

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Australia
The Sydney Australia Temple
Area	Pacific
Members	157,079 (2023, self-reported)[1]
Stakes	41
Districts	7
Wards	236
Branches	74
Total Congregations[2]	310
Missions	5
Temples	5
Family History Centers	143[3]

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in Australia began with the arrival of seventeen-year-old missionary William James Barratt in 1840. The LDS Church's first baptism in Australia was in 1842 when Barratt baptised Robert Beauchamp, who would later become an Australian mission president. However, official missionary work did not begin until John Murdock, who became the first official mission president in Australia, and Charles Wandell established a mission in Sydney, Australia, on 31 October 1851. The colonies of New Zealand and Tasmania were added to the Australian Mission in 1854, creating the Australasian Mission. In 1898, however, the Australasian Mission was divided into the New Zealand Mission and the Australian Mission.

Due to many factors including the lack of missionary force, the vastness of the country, and the large scale emigration of church members in Australia throughout the nineteenth-century, the church grew slowly until the 1950s. Considered to be the turning point in the history of the LDS Church in Australia, church president David O. McKay visited Australia in 1955 and determined a need for more permanent buildings for congregations throughout Australia. In 1956, the chapel building program established 19 chapels within two years. The LDS Church in Australia began to grow at a more rapid rate after the 1950s. By 1960, there were over 7,000 LDS Church members in the country and the first Australian stake was organised in Sydney on 27 March 1960. The Sydney Australia Temple, the first temple in Australia, was dedicated and began operations in September 1984.

Membership count include everyone that have joined the church that are still living as well as unbaptised children, regardless of current affiliation (see Membership defined). As of 31 December 2021^[update], the LDS Church reported 155,383 members in 309 congregations in Australia which is the largest body of members and congregations in Oceania. This is an increase of 30,945 members since 2009 which is the largest increase of members in Oceania.

In the 2016 Australian census, 61,600 people self-identified as members of the LDS Church on an optional question.^[4] In the 2021 census, 57,868 people identified themselves as members of the church.^[5]